Chapter 145: So You Are This Kind of Male God? So That's Where the Punchline Is!

Right at this moment, the viewer count in the top right corner of Liu Yadong’s livestream room showed: [1,000,000+ Online].

And the public chat screen was already scrolling at a dizzying speed.

[Chat:
Holy crap, holy crap! It really is Su Mu, 666!
I was wondering why Douyin pushed this stream to me, turns out it's God Su!
Hu Bayi! Why aren't you out looking for the Ancient City of Jingjue, what are you doing here holding a baby and feeding milk?
Haha, did you guys see Su Mu's expression just now? So exaggerated!
I almost spat out my drink laughing.
First time ever seeing Su Mu make a face like that!
Su Mu, don't be like this, you're supposed to be a cold, handsome guy!]

The chat messages scrolled frantically.
It was obvious these people had clicked into the livestream only after seeing that he was on it.

Su Mu was holding the baby right now, watching the chat.
Although he could no longer see the rising numbers, he guessed they were definitely still climbing.
After all, lately the hype around *Candle in the Tomb* hadn't died down at all, and many people were still fixated on that role of Hu Bayi.

Su Mu thought for a moment.
Then he continued to pretend he hadn't seen anything.
He picked up the feeding bottle straight away, coaxing the little tot: "Want a drink?~ Don't rush, let me check if the milk powder is too hot first."

Su Mu unscrewed the cap, took a tiny sip, and then—drank it all down!

Little Treasure: "Goo-goo!"

Su Mu shook his head: "Little Treasure, this milk powder is a bit too hot, you can't handle it. I'll drink it all up for you, and then I'll brew you a fresh cup."

Little Treasure: "???"

[Chat:
Pfft~ So cheeky!
This isn't the Su Mu I know, haha!
Why is he acting a bit rogue? But I like it!
Couldn't you just let it cool down? You actually drank it all to remake it, you really are something else!
666, Little Treasure must be thinking: *I can't handle your grandpa.*
Hahaha!]

[Punchline Proficiency +1]
[Humor Proficiency +1]
[Absurdist Proficiency +1]
[Skill Point +0.01...]

Su Mu’s eyes lit up.
Wasn't this feeling starting to kick in?

Right after that, he brewed another cup of milk powder and shook it frantically in front of the little tot.
Then, as before, he took a tiny sip first.
The next second, his expression suddenly turned solemn!

Su Mu’s acting skills were top-notch.
His expression and emotions instantly hyped up the atmosphere.

[Chat: Huh?]
[What's wrong with Su Mu?]
[Is something wrong with this milk powder, some high-tech black magic?]
[Why that expression? What happened?]

Su Mu looked at the tot with a deadly serious face, and then spoke with utmost gravity: "Remember this, from today onwards, milk powder brewed with boiling water must never be drunk immediately!"

Little Treasure: "o((⊙﹏⊙))o"

[Chat: ???]

Su Mu: "It burns your mouth."

[Chat: I'll be damned...]
[Hahaha, holy crap, that makes total sense]
[Su Mu? Is this really Su Mu?]
[......]
[666, hahaha!]

[Humor +1]
[Punchline +1]
[...]

After a long while, Su Mu let the milk bottle cool down, and only then did he feed the baby carefully.

[Chat:
At least he has a conscience, didn't drink it all this time.
Little Treasure: Just you wait until I grow up, I'll raid your convenience store!
Hahaha, so cheeky!]

Su Mu was feeding the baby while finally looking up at the livestream room.
His expression suddenly turned exaggerated: "Oh! You guys are all here..."

[Hahaha, you just noticed?]
[God Su, we've been watching you for ages!]
[Confirmed, he's not Qu Yuan, he's a total goofball!]
[Humor +1]

Su Mu: "Don't misunderstand, alright? This isn't my kid, I'm just purely here to babysit and feed milk."

[Puff, Su Mu feeding a baby? 666, get ready for the headlines!]
[Is this Liu Yadong's kid? Haha.]
[Su Mu, are you a goofball? Stop messing around!]
[Hahaha... Look at his expression! ROFL]
[It's over, it's over, my male god is actually this funny in private]
[Humor Proficiency +1]
[Skill Point +0.01]
[...]

The vibe was right.
Su Mu suddenly felt like a fish in water.
He seemed to understand where the audience's humor lay, and what kind of comedy they wanted.

Following that, the million-user livestream room
all started watching Su Mu feed the baby with all sorts of fancy tricks.

After farming proficiency for about half an hour,
his popularity still hadn't dropped.
Suddenly, the door in the back opened.
Liu Yadong and Qian Jida walked in carrying takeout they had ordered.

Qian Jida: "We're having pizza today—ah!!"
Liu Yadong: "!!!"

The exact second the two of them walked in,
they saw Su Mu holding the baby, feeding milk to the livestream camera with fancy flair!
Then they glanced over at the livestream room and their minds went completely blank.

What the heck, over a million people?

Qian Jida was stunned.
Liu Yadong was even more dumbfounded.

He streamed quite often, doing some entertainment stuff and singing, mostly as promotion for his own record label.
Yet the last time he invited a certain well-known band over, they only pulled in 100,000+ viewers.
And yet Su Mu holding his kid and feeding milk blew past a million people just like that?!

Though he was glad it was happening in his stream,
Liu Yadong still felt a little bittersweet inside.
Truly, comparing yourself to others would drive you to your grave.
Perhaps this was what a real traffic-heavy celebrity was like.
They sang themselves hoarse every day and nobody watched, and no matter how good the music was, Douyin wouldn't push any traffic.
Yet Su Mu just stood there—and it wasn't even his own livestream room—and Douyin pushed a million-user traffic pool his way.
If this were his own streaming account, goodness knows how many people would be online.

On the other side,
Qian Jida smacked his forehead, realizing he had forgotten to mention they were live streaming when he left, and hadn't reminded Su Mu at all.
Not that streaming was a big deal, anyway.
But after all, Su Mu was currently a red-hot traffic star, and the viewer count was way too high.
If something inappropriate got broadcasted live,
tomorrow's trending searches would certainly be interesting.

Just as he was thinking this,
Su Mu had already finished his second routine of fancy feeding.
Histing the baby down from above his head, Su Mu turned back to look at the two of them: "Yo, look, look, the kid's real dad is back!"

Liu Yadong: "..."
Qian Jida: "..."

[Chat: Damn, is that true or fake?]
[Fancy milk feeding aside, you're setting up the kid's dad too?]
[Haha, Su Mu's livestream is super fun.]
[Su Mu, Su Mu! Come on, start streaming regularly.]
[Do you even remember the login password for your Douyin account!?]
[Humor +1]
[...]

Qian Jida stepped forward: "Everything okay? Forgot to mention it when I left just now."
Su Mu: "It's fine, just chatting and feeding the baby."
Liu Yadong chuckled: "Hey, nothing bad could happen. After all, it's my livestream room, everyone knows you guys are guests I invited. Come on, you must be starved after working all day, let's have some simple pizza first."

[Chat: Wait!??]
[Su Mu looking for Liu Yadong, are they recording a new song?]
[Wow! Su Mu is going to sing again? Is it for a New Year blockbuster movie?]
[Quickly sing a few lines, don't be ungrateful!]

Qian Jida grabbed a slice of pizza: "Let's eat first. Yadong ordered this from a western restaurant. Look at the color of this ham, high-end stuff, he really splurged."
Li Yadong smiled: "Of course, gotta treat Su Mu warmly since he's here."

Su Mu, holding the little tot, suddenly furrowed his brows and put on a mysterious expression: "Wait!"

[Chat: ???]
[Chat: ???]

Su Mu: "Before we eat, let me ask an important question..."
Qian Jida: "Spit it out."
Liu Yadong: "What is it?"

Su Mu lowered his voice: "You just said this Spanish ham has color, but does the gas discharged by a baby have color?"
Qian Jida: "..."
Liu Yadong chuckled: "Hey, I thought it was going to be something serious. How could a baby's fart have any color?"

Su Mu expressionless: "So it has no color, right?"
Li Yadong: "Right."
Su Mu nodded: "Alright, then I know."

Qian Jida and Liu Yadong were baffled.
"What do you know?"

Su Mu calmly smiled: "If a baby's fart has no color, then I guess he pooped on me."

Qian Jida: "!!!"
Liu Yadong: "Oh no, Little Treasure...!!"

[Livestream Chat:
Ahahaha! I can't take it anymore, I'm dying of laughter!
Pooping on him expressed in such a refined and elegant way?
Damn hahaha... My stomach hurts.
Su Mu is such a goofball, why is he so funny? He looks so handsome in idol dramas, but he's such a joker in private?
If I knew you were this kind of Su Mu, then I... you're too cool!
666! I found out Su Mu's livestreams are genuinely fun, this cheeky comedic style is great!
I'm not worried about Su Mu's comedy anymore! Hahaha, can't wait!]

At this moment,
the livestream room was once again boiling over!
Because of Su Mu's consecutive punchlines, the viewers started laughing uncontrollably.
And many people suddenly realized that maybe accepting Su Mu acting in a comedy wasn't out of the question after all.
If they had known their male god was a goofball in private,
why torture themselves by worrying about his New Year comedy?

[Humor Proficiency +1]
[Punchline Proficiency +1]
[Absurdist Proficiency +1]
[Skill Point +0.01 +0.01...]

He made a killing.
Su Mu looked at the proficiency increments flashing across his mind, highly satisfied.
It wasn't even because of the proficiency boost.
It was more like he had accidentally found the comedic style that suited him.
Although it wasn't completely clear-cut yet,
as long as he kept exploring while grinding proficiency, he would probably carve out his own path very soon.

Furthermore, through live streaming,
he discovered this seemed to be a channel that allowed the general audience to gradually adapt to and accept him dropping his idol baggage and unleashing his true nature.
If he did this a few more times, the public would adapt to and acknowledge that he was a person overflowing with humor in private.
Then, by the time his comedy hit the screens, none of the punchlines would feel abrupt anymore.

After changing his clothes
and eating,
Su Mu continued working with Liu Yadong to produce demos for several more songs.
The subsequent tracks—*Overheated*, *Chaser*, *Three Kingdoms Romance*, and *Glorious Years*—were all included.
The ones before these were one classic after another.
However, it wasn't until Su Mu hummed *Night in Ulaanbaatar*
that Liu Yadong practically dropped to his knees.

This song was something Su Mu's current vocal level couldn't actually handle at all.
Yet even though it wasn't sung perfectly,
Liu Yadong still heard the extraordinary quality of the track.

"Su Mu! You! Stop acting! Seriously, you're going to be a giant in the music scene in the future!"
Su Mu: "Gotham?"
Liu Yadong: "The music scene!"
Su Mu: "I'm not playing Batman."
Liu Yadong: "...?"
Qian Jida: "Pfft~ Hahaha!"

[Humor +1]
[Skill Point +0.01]

"???"
Holy crap, he actually laughed?
If he remembered correctly, this was Qian Jida's first time.
Even Su Mu was dumbfounded.
He hadn't even thought it was funny himself.
So Qian Jida's funny bone was triggered by...
A pun/homophonic joke?

...

On the way back.
Su Mu: "President Qian."
Qian Jida: "What's up?"
Su Mu: "Cats go meow meow meow, dogs go woof woof woof, ducks go quack quack quack, what do chickens go?"
Qian Jida: "Ooh ooh ooh?"
Su Mu smiled: "Opportunity is reserved for those who are prepared."
Master Zhu: "?"
Qian Jida: "......Pfft, hahaha!"

[Humor +1]
[...]

PS: There will be another chapter later, but I write slowly. If it's posted too late, you can read it tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)